Those Were The Days!

Tomorrow two of my college girlfriends are coming for lunch and a visit.  The three of us were best buddies at East Carolina many moons ago (in the 60's!!).  Brenda & Jackie had rooms across the hall from me our freshman year.  They were from the mountains of NC (Forest City) and to me, they were definitely hillbillies!!  They were both pretty poor and were at ECU on scholarships so they were really careful with their money unlike me!!  I was the city gal, born and raised in Charlotte, and pretty spoiled.  I didn't have a clue about the value of money, so we made a pretty interesting group.  I was always trying to talk them into going to Happy Hour at the local bars with me and they were trying to talk me into going to the "free flicks" on campus!!  Those were the days!!   We have so many stories to share of some of our escapades at ECU including following Steven Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash) to Raleigh to party with him and his band; arriving in Greenville one night to find the town locked down because of MLK being shot and being stopped by the Nat'l Guard!!  Brenda and I added to our stories by waitress one summer at Myrtle Beach and driving my 1949 Dodge (The Toad!) to the beach.  One night while out bar hopping, The Toad broke down right in the middle of Atlantic Beach (back then, that was the black beach!).  In reality, they both had it together.  They both graduated from ECU, were elementary school teachers and are  retired now.  Whereas, my partying got the best of me and my grades and I dropped out after 3 years (one of the biggest regrets of my life - I was determined my children would not follow in my footsteps although there was no chance of that.)

Anyway .... we have continued our friendship over 40 years!!  Brenda and Jackie have both stayed in NC while I was moving about the country.  Since I have moved back to NC, we have tried to get together at one of our homes a couple of times a year.  We drag out the blender and make strawberry daiquiris just like we did back then.  Tomorrow is my turn and I have decided to do something different than daiquiris .... something more grown up!!  I bought some Chambord today and am going to make Pink-a-tinis!  I have had these before at a restaurant and have tried to duplicate them at home.  They are really good.  You mix Chambord with White Zinfandel and Cranberry Juice.... yum!! 

I made these bags for everyone and have put 4-5 cards and envies in them.  My mom is coming for lunch as well as Brenda's mom too.  I think they will enjoy them.  They were very easy to make plus I was able to use up some of my old designer paper .  I got the instructions off Andrea's Blog.

Here they are close up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beat Stress .....

Super-Foods to Help You Stay Healthy
You can help beat stress by eating…

• Sunflower seeds, which are a good source of folate.  Folate helps your body produce a pleasure-inducing brain chemical called dopamine. [1 or 2 tablespoons would make a great snack.]
• Spinach, which contains magnesium. Magnesium improves your body's response to stress. 
• Blueberries, which contain antioxidants that counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol on your body. [Blueberries are great on your morning cereal or as a snack.]

You can get energized with…

• Almonds or almond butter, which help to stabilize energy levels with a mix of protein and healthy fat. [
• Eggs ~ by adding a lean protein to your breakfast, like eggs, you will help fight fatigue. When you have an all-carb breakfast (muffin, bagel, toast) you will find yourself sluggish because carbs boost your levels of serotonin, a calming hormone. [A good energizing breakfast is 2 eggs (or 1 egg and 2 egg whites)

~Woman's Day Magazine

A New Me!

I got new glasses today. Trying to look younger .... not sure if I've succeeded, but I like them anyway! I really wanted smaller glasses, but with bifocals, can't go too small unfortunately.

What do you think? NEW LOOK -

OLD LOOK:

Come one, Come all .... to my Card Buffet

I am having a Card Buffet tonight and expect about 8 people. I have been working fast and furious to get the cards ready and the directions written up. I am doing things a little different (at least for me) tonight. I have made 12 cards - 8 sets of each. Each guest can pick and choose which ones they want to make at $2 per card. If they want to do 2 of one card, they can. It will be on a "first come, first served" basis. Hope this works out!!

Here are some of the cards we will be making.

This one uses Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set and Tart and Tangy with the Summer Picnic Designer Paper.
This one uses Life is a Breeze stamp set and is glittered! We will also be using a wheel for the bottom.

This card I did a brayer technique and it actually worked!! I used a sticky note to mask the moon. The stamp set is my new favorite, Inspired by Nature! I just love this stamp.
This card uses the stamp set, Always and the Whimsey wheel on the side panel.

This card uses the Curly Label punch in the center and the Scallop Square punch behind each of the squares. I thought the arrows (from My Way punch) made a cute addition.

This card is another great use for Pick a Petal! That is such a versatile stamp set!

Up Up and Away

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My Mom is waving at the crowd!!

Yippee!!! Yep, that's me going up in a hot air balloon. In the balloon is me, my mom, my brother (the little boy is in front of him) and my sister in law. The other man is the "pilot"!!

Unfortunately, we didn't go very high. The balloon was tethered so we only went about 10-20 feet up. But it was pretty cool!!

We went to my uncle's 70th birthday party this afternoon. His daughter threw the party for him and had the hot air balloon there to take us all on rides. What a party! There were white coated servants passing out appetizers when we got there; our drinks were served in glasses with "John's 70th birthday bash" and a picture of the CAR his daughter bought him for his birthday (a 2008 Dodge Challenger!!) There was a jumpy house for the children out back along with a hay wagon to pick you up at the parking lot and bring you to the party. We had a buffet lunch (yummy macaroni and cheese!!) and a gorgeous cake - don't know how it tasted since I didn't try it. (I had already eaten pecan pie!!) Then after eating and balloon rides, some of the kids went horseback riding. Too hot for us to do that!

What was popular when you were born?

This is just for fun. I found this on another blog and couldn't resist copying it. Follow this link and see what song was popular when you were born!! Mine was ..... A Tree in the Meadow by Margaret Whiting. I never even heard of that song or of the artist!! But, a fun link anyway.

http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

Leave me a comment and let me know what your song was .... and if you are even familiar with it!!

Exhausted but had FUN!!

I am exhausted!! I have spent 2 days in Charlotte at the Creative Keepsakes Convention. My sister and I got there a little after 10 yesterday morning and shopped the vendors for a couple of hours ... only getting down 2 1/2 aisles (out of about 7 or 8 aisles!) We then grabbed a quick lunch and headed up to the Paper Crafts class where we were TA's for noon to 4 pm. As luck would have it, we were assigned to be TA's for the same class we had paid to take the next day - Pocket Cards. The instructor was Sue Neal - one of the creators of Paper Crafts Magazine which I have subscribed to for about 8 years so she was like a mini celebrity to me!! She was really sweet and thought Marianne and I were super duper TA's!! (although she didn't give us any freebies!! I was a TA last year for Quick Quotes and got a free class kit.) When our shift was over, we rushed back downstairs to the vendor area to browse the aisles a little longer. We decided to forego going back home and fixing dinner for our families and instead signed up for an evening chipboard class. Luckily, we ran into Marianne's neighbor who also signed up with us so we could borrow her supplies. (We didn't come prepared to take a class on Friday.) We made a really cute chipboard album (I'll be posting pictures a couple of days).

On Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn (at least it felt like it to me - 7:30 am!!) and met Marianne and Robin and headed back to Charlotte. We wanted to try to get there when they opened the doors this time! We had a couple of hours to shop with the vendors (got a couple more aisles done and a make and take). Then, off to class .... since Marianne & I already knew how to make the Pocket Cards in our Paper Crafts class, we decided to just pick up our packets and make them at home. Robin and I took a great class from Quick Quotes but it was fast paced!! Made me a little nervous. Quick Quotes was definately all of our favorite vendor! They have some wonderful kits, canvas book set, vellum quotes, etc. If you are at all interested in any of their kits, believe me, you can't go wrong purchasing them. The instructions included are very easy to follow and tell you everything step-by-step. My sister ended up signing up for their monthly club which was a pretty good deal at the convention. She got lots of free stuff for signing up. Plus, she is a newbie to this paper craft world and this will get her hooked!!
Marianne had to head back to Mooresville to watch her boys play soccer so left Robin and I to do more shopping and classes! We took our final class from Keller's Creations which was a Chipboard Wall Hanging - once I finish it, I'll post the picture. They had some really cute things and I bought my daughter a 6"x 6" Disney chipboard book for her upcoming trip in September. If you see either of these companies in your travels - classes or goodies, check them out - they are great!!

Wel,, I will be posting pictures of stuff I saw in the future. Right now, my head is about to hit the pillow!!

Thank you Mr. Brown

I have been a busy beaver today! My UPS man (thank you Mr. Brown!) brought me my new catalog goodies this morning - right after my DH left for a day of skeet shooting, so I had the day all to myself!! I got 4 new stampsets, 2 punches, 2 packages of Designer Paper, 2 spools of ribbon, Felt Flowers, rub on's and filigree brads!! Here are a few cards I made today using my new goodies. These are some of the cards we will be working on next Tuesday night at my Card Buffet. If you are in the area and want to come, let me know!!

I am loving this card!! The stamp set used was Dreams du Jour with Pink Pirouette cardstock. The front has 3 layers - the pink pirouette cs; Bella Designer Paper; and on the top Vellum held together with 2 pink brads. To get the square scallop, I cut a square 2 3/4" and used the new Scallop Punch on all 4 sides. By centering the pink square in the punch, you leave the little connecting piece on all 4 corners.

This card uses Eastern Blooms stamp set. Cardstock and ink used - Taken With Teal; Shimmery White; Certainly Celery & Chocolate Chip. I used Dazzling Diamonds Embossing Powder on the large flower in the corner and curled the petals up. In the middle of the flower is one of the felt flowers and a brad. "Hugs and Kisses" is actually a rub on from the Chit Chat set. This will be a very versatile rub on set I think.

This card uses the stamp set Fresh Cuts and the petal punched note cards. I stamped in Elegant Eggplant, going over the solid petals with my marker to make them stand out more. I punched a flower out of Elegant Eggplant with the 5-Petal Punch to put behind the center petal with a Rhinestone Brad in the center. I put Old Olive on the inside of the card - using dimensionals. I used the Oval Punches for "for you." And the ribbon is the gorgeous new Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon.

This card is using the darling Sock Monkey. I stamped him in Chocolate Chip on Vanilla cardstock and colored him with markers. I used the Tab Punch with red eyelets and on the side, I used the slot punch with red grosgrain ribbon. The banana is on with dimensionals.

This card uses Life's A Breeze. This is the stamp set I got with my SAB rewards. Isn't it fun and sparkly??

I think this is my favorite stamp set! I wasn't too sure when I first saw it in the catalog because it is so large, but I have seen some great cards using it. It is called Inspired by Nature. I stamped the image with Versamark on Designer Paper (Pacific Point Patterns - page 171) and embossed with white embossing powder. I also used one of my new filigree brads on this one.

Sharon

Happy Birthday Jayce

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Today is my grandson's 2nd birthday. Only wish I could be there to see him open up his gifts and have a great day. He lives in Tucson and he is my only grandson. I was there last year for his first birthday.

Isn't he adorable????

Monday Mailers

I received another great Monday Mailer this week from Beth. This time it is faux postage. I haven't done this technique in quite a while - think I'll pull it out and do a card. Thanks, Beth for reminding me!!

And here's the card I sent to my MM partner. She should have received it by now - or maybe tomorrow. Last week, I posted it early and she saw it here on my blog before getting it in the mail. I wanted to wait this week so she could be surprised. I did Faux Denim and it really turned out cool. I swiped my Brocade Blue ink pad over Brocade Blue cardstock in long strokes (leaving some areas uninked). Let it dry (I used heat gun.) Then swipe the white craft inkpad over the blue (in the same direction.) Let dry. Next, swipe Night of Navy inkpad over but this time going in the opposite direction. Let dry completely. Buff to blend colors. I trimmed a small strip off the edge and used it for the jeans seam. Then I used my gel pen for "stitches". I stamped paisley's from Western stamp set and the Dotted Background stamp in white craft ink on Riding Hood Red and cut it into a triangle for the pocket look. Dream Big is from "It's All Good" stamp set and I punched it with my SU square punch.